Card spending in South Korea rose more than 10 percent in 2021 from a year earlier amid the coronavirus pandemic, industry data showed Friday. Spending made with credit, debit and prepaid cards stood at about 977 trillion won ($811 billion) last year, up 10.3 percent from the same quarter a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Credit Finance Association. Card spending in Asia's fourth-largest economy has been on a steady increase in recent years with the annualized growth rate r

South Korea's consumer prices rose more than 3 percent for the fourth consecutive month in January due mainly to high prices of oil products and dining out amid soaring energy prices and a global supply chain crisis, data showed Friday. The consumer prices advanced 3.6 percent on-year last month, compared with a 3.7 percent gain in December, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The country's consumer inflation has increased more than 3 percent every month since October last year

SEJONG -- The nation’s tax authority said Thursday that it has launched a full-fledged investigation into people engaging in irregular transfers of assets to their children. The action is aimed at turning up the heat on people, who sought to evade gift taxes by transferring their homes to children at prices lower than those on the trading market, according to the National Tax Service. Over the past several years, more and more homeowners were found to have chosen to give their homes to t

South Korea’s central bank said Thursday that the global market was relatively stable during the three-day Lunar New Year holiday this week, but external risks remain high on the Korean market. “During the Lunar New Year holiday, which took place this year from Jan. 31 to Feb. 2, stocks and rates in major economies rose, alongside a weak dollar trend, due to easing of the global risk-avoidance tendencies,” BOK Senior Deputy Gov. Lee Seung-heon said after a meeting to review th

K-Bank, a South Korean internet-only bank, on Thursday reported its first profit since its launch in 2017 thanks to a sharp increase in customers and interest income. Net profit came to 22.4 billion won ($18.6 million) in 2021, a turnaround from a loss of 105.4 billion won a year earlier, according to the company's interim earnings report. This marked the first annual net profit that the internet-only bank has posted since it was launched in 2017. K-Bank is controlled by a consortium of teleco

Online shopping in South Korea hit a record high in 2021, led by strong demand for food delivery services and electronics amid the pandemic, data showed Thursday. The value of online shopping transactions stood at 192.9 trillion won ($160 billion) last year, up 21 percent from the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. It marked the largest value since the statistics agency began compiling related data in 2001. Purchases made through smartphones, tablets and other mobile

South Korean builders' business sentiment hit the lowest level in one year and five months in January due to seasonal and several negative factors, a poll showed Thursday. The country's construction business survey index (CBSI) stood at 74.6 last month, down 17.9 points from the previous month, according to the survey by the Construction and Economy Research Institute of Korea. The January figure was the lowest mark in 17 months and represented the first on-month decline in three months. The i

South Korea's air passenger traffic fell 7.7 percent in 2021 from a year earlier due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the transport ministry said Thursday. A total of 36.36 million passengers, including 3.21 million on international routes, flew with full-service and low-cost carriers in 2021 mainly for business purposes, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The number of passengers on international routes plunged 78 percent on-year last year as countries maintai

South Korea will earmark 841 billion won ($697.4 million) for research and development of key materials and parts this year in a move to reduce dependency on foreign supplies and boost competitiveness of local industries, the industry ministry said Thursday. It is up 22 percent from last year's budget, as the country has been ramping up efforts to nurture the materials and parts industry, particularly after Japan's control on exports of key products in 2019. Of the budget, 321.8 billion won wi

South Korea should stay vigilant on the possibility of heightening financial market volatility amid persistent worries over inflation in major economies and other risk factors, though the markets showed signs of stability in recent days, a senior central bank official said Thursday. The Bank of Korea (BOK) held a meeting to monitor global financial market situations following the five-day Lunar New Year holiday that ended on Wednesday during which local stock and currency markets were closed. T

S outh Korean stocks opened steeply higher Thursday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street that stemmed from robust earnings reports. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 46.77 points, or 1.76 percent, to trade at 2,710.11 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The Kospi got off to a bullish start after a three-day holiday, as the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite added 0.5 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.63 percent Wednesday. In Seoul, market b

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Thursday the country's housing prices are expected to pick up their declining pace amid the central bank's rate hike and tighter lending rules. Hong said the government is committed to implementing its current real estate policy with a focus on increasing the home supply in a bid to stabilize housing prices. "We think housing prices need to undergo a downward correction to some degree, given that home prices have excessively risen. The government plans to

The ratio of the self-employed and other nonwage workers in South Korea touched an all-time low in 2021 amid the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Thursday. Asia's fourth-largest economy had 6.52 million unsalaried workers as of the end of December last year, marking the 23rd consecutive year of decline, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The number accounted for 23.9 percent of the country's total employed people, the lowest tally since data tracking began in 1963.

South Korea ranked fifth among 47 countries globally in the drop in stock market capitalization between December last year and January this year, amid US Fed rate hike worries, a local brokerage said Wednesday.　 The country’s benchmark Kospi and junior Kosdaq stood at about $1.9 trillion in market value on Jan. 26, down from $2.1 trillion on Dec. 31, 2021, in a 10 percent fall, according to Daishin Securities, which cited Bloomberg data. Russia saw the greatest drop at 16 percent, followe

South Korea's new vehicle registrations fell 9 percent last year from a year earlier as chip shortages affected vehicle production and sales, the transport ministry said Wednesday. The number of newly registered vehicles declined 173,000 units to 17.43 million in 2021 from 19.16 million a year ago, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement. Of the annual total, registrations of locally produced passenger cars fell 11 percent to 14.29 million last year from 1.60 mil